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JOUKNAL OP HOETICOLTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



t Febrnary 18, 1869. 



Bhonld be added one-fourth of rotten manure, cow dung being 

 best. The soil when used should be made firm by treading, 

 and fine weather ought to be chosen, for if wet it will be apt to 

 become little better than mud. Mulch from the stem to a 

 little beyond the outside of the trench with 3 inches thick of 

 short littery manure. This will serve the tree for about two 

 years, when another trench may be taken out, and another 

 width of fresh compost added. The trench previously taken 

 out and refilled with fresh soil ought not to be disturbed. In 

 this way the border may be entirely renewed, and the trees will 

 gain vigour accordingly, though it will not be necessary to pro- 

 ceed beyond the second trench if the soil of the border is good, 

 and liberally manured. 



The .trees will have been uunailed or untied before fastening 

 up permanently, which need not be performed until the buds 

 begin to sweU in spring ; but do it before they are far advanced, 

 cutting out any of the oldest branches that are deficient in 

 young wood, preserving as much of the latter as possible, yet 

 do not leave more branches than will be needed to cover the 

 wall at 1 foot apart, and let the bearing wood on them be from 

 9 inches to a foot apart. If there is an old naked branch, and 

 a youug shoot well disposed for succeeding it, by all means cut 

 off the old branch, and train the young in its place, always pre- 

 ferring young to old wood. A sufficient number of shoots 

 should be left for bearing, and they should be shortened one- 

 third more than had there been no root-pruning or lifting of 

 the tree. 



With due regard to watering and syringing, the trees treated 

 in the manner described will bear as well as if their roots had 

 not been interfered with, and will make good growths. I have 

 repeatedly tried the above plan, and in no instance failed to 

 secure better growth, shorter-jointed, stronger bearing wood 

 well set with buds, and finer fruit. The Peach, or rather the 

 Plum upon which it is worked, is apt to produce fibres near the 

 stem ; indeed, in old trees, they are never absent, and by en- 

 couraging these we obtain, as it were, a new set of roots in 

 place of the old fibreless ones which are of as little value for food- 

 collecting as the old bare branches are for fruit. When the 

 tree is little else than bare branches, and is but scantily fur- 

 nished with bearing wood, make sure that the roots are as bare 

 of fibres as the branches are of young shoots, and to have one 

 it is necessary to have the other. — G. Abbey. 



KOSE CUTTINGS. 



I HAVE just read Mr. Luckhurst's very timely and valuable 

 suggestions about Eose cuttings. It was not till last year that 

 I tried propagating hoses by cuttings, and during the summer 

 and autumn I inserted some hundreds, but did not succeed 

 in rooting 20 per cent, (except China Roses, which will strike 

 almost at any time), until September, when I placed them in a 

 little bottom heat. In this batch were some of the best Hybrid 

 Perpetuals, including Alfred Colomb and Comtesse de Cha- 

 brillant, which rooted readily, but I have not been able to 

 induce Pierre Netting to emit roots as yet. 



I think one cause of my non-success during the summer 

 was, that my frames were facing the south, and I found that 

 the least sunshine withered the cuttings at once. Another 

 cause was, perhaps, that it requires some experience to choose 

 the wood when ripe for cuttings. Doubtless, the cuttings de- 

 scribed by Mr. Luckhurst are those suitable for striking in a 

 cold frame, but in bottom heat I have struck many taken from 

 strong shoots cut into lengths with three or four eyes to each. 



I was disappointed that Mr. Luckhurst said nothing of 

 spring propagation, but I trust he is reserving that for another 

 occasion. I am assured that as soon as the buds start cuttings 

 wiU strike most readily. I should be very glad to know from 

 any of your correspondents if this is correct, and whether the 

 prunings may not be used for the purpose, as the buds are 

 starting so early this year. — B. Ksott. 



Eaely Wild Floweks. — I have this morning (Februai-y 9th), 

 received from Mr. Draper, Seaham Hall Gardens, near Sunder- 

 land, a fully-developed flower of Lychnis sylvestris (Eed Cam- 

 pion or Wood Lychnis), which he gathered the day before. 

 Mr. Draper says, "I have this day explored the woods here, 

 and found the Wood Lychnis about a foot high in perfect 

 bloom — such a sight at this season of the year. I believe that 

 there is no record of such an early flowering of the Lychnis 

 in these northern parts." 



The other day while walking with a friend along the banks 



of the Tyne, about ten or twelve miles above Newcastle, we 

 marked a Primrose in bloom. It was on a sloping bank facing 

 about S.S.W. For the last fortnight or more a Primrose, 

 which I transferred from the fields last spring to a border facing 

 east beneath my study window, has been well out in flower. 

 We are generally later in this exposed seaside place than our 

 more favoured neighbours farther inland. The thrushes have 

 been singing gloriously for two or three weeks past. — E. F. 

 Wheelek, Wliitleij Vicaraije, Nortlatmbeiiand. 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF PELARGONIUMS. 



The following letter from the other side of the world gives 

 me the opportunity of saying a few words in reply on the pre- 

 sent classification of Pelargoniums — a subject fraught with no 

 little difficulty, and very puzzling indeed to outsiders. 



" I shall esteem it a great favour if you will kindly answer 

 the following questions. In this part of the globe it is a diffi- 

 cult matter to obtain information on floriculture, there being 

 no recognised authority to whom we can refer knotty or dis- 

 puted points. 1, What classes should Pelargoniums be divided 

 into for a catalogue ? 2, What is the definition of Fancy Pe- 

 largonium ? 3, What is a Spotted and what is a French variety ? 

 4, Is there any difference between a Spotted and a French 

 variety? if so, what is the difference? 5, What recent work 

 on the Pelargonium can you recommend ? 6, Is Glenny's work 

 on the properties of flowers a recognised authority ? — J. F. 

 Pascoe, Adelaide." 



As florists' flowers are in themselves matters of purely arbi- 

 trary taste, though, as I believe, a taste founded on correct 

 principles, it is not to be wondered at that the classes into 

 which they are divided should be arbitrary also. What can be 

 more absurd than to make a Dahha with a white ground and a 

 purple edge a Show Dahlia, and another with the colours reversed 

 — i.e., a pmple ground and a white edge, a Fancy ? Yes, there 

 is one thing more absurd still, and that is the attempt to alter 

 it. These things have become well established in the horti- 

 cultural mind, they are perfectly well understood, and an 

 interloper in either class would very soon be detected ; and, 

 therefore, when a correspondent wishes me to define what a 

 Fancy Pelargonium is, I can only reply that definitions are 

 always very dilhcult, and that the safest reply is, it is a Fancy 

 Pelargonium. 



There are (leaving on one side the Zonal section), three 

 classes into which Pelargoniums are and may be divided for a 

 catalogue — viz., Show, Fancy, and French varieties. Formerly 

 there was a fourth class, Spotted, but that has now been 

 merged in the first. 



The Show Pelargonium, or Large-flowered, as it had better 

 be called — for the Fancy section is equally available for the 

 purpose of exhibition — is well known, but, as I have said, not 

 easy to define. The ground colour varies from white to deep 

 crimson, and the petals may be either spotted or painted — 

 that is, streaked with faint lines, or nearly altogether covered 

 with a deep blotch of dark maroon or black ; the foliage is 

 ample, and the individual leaves large. The Fancy section is 

 composed of plants varying very much from the foregoing both 

 in the character of the foliage and in the flower ; the foliage is 

 smaller and neater, and the plant more compact in habit, 

 requiring, too, somewhat more heat, and being more impatient 

 of damp ; the flowers are also smaller and rounder, produced in 

 trusses more numerous and more filled. The French varieties 

 are very different from either ; they lay claim to no regularity 

 of outline, are sometimes even frilled, as in Dr. Andry, and 

 with very odd combinations of colour, very showy and effective 

 for bouquets or on a stage, as they are very free-flowering. 



Glenny's work is far the best on the properties of florists' 

 flowers, and is the universally recognised authority. There 

 was, I believe, a brochure by Mr. Charles Turner, of Slough, 

 published some years ago on the culture of Pelargoniums, but 

 I know of no recent work on the subject. — D., Deal. 



BURNING CLAY FOR GARDEN WALKS. 



As you wish me to give an account of my mode of burning 

 clay for garden walks, I will endeavour to do so as briefly as I 

 can. 



In the first place select the ground for the fire as near the 

 clay as possible, and then make a good fire of wood and coal 

 of about 3 or 4 feef through. When about three-fourths burnt 

 put on your clay from the bottom upwards all round — one 



